YuGiOh! Delta: The Happy Revolution
by Rebster6
Summary: In this story, we deal with one revolution, then we finally reveal what all the Ultra-Subtle Foreshadowing Hints were leading up to! After that, there'll be another revolution on the way. Double the revolution, triple the fun. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

"C'mon, Dan," Leah pleaded with him. "Just whip it off. It's easy."

"Maybe it's easy for you," he muttered, "you've already done it once."

"Yeah, but I didn't mean for it to happen," she replied. "It just kind of... happened. Now come on, just do it slowly, one inch at a time."

"I never thought something so simple could be so difficult," Dan said.

Leah smiled. "Trust me; it'll be much easier once you've gotten some practise in. Now come on, just take it off. Don't be so afraid – I promise I won't laugh if your first time doesn't go well."

"Hey Leah," Matt called from across the room. "When do we get our turn? Quit spending so much time on Dan."

"Yeah," Katie added, grinning. "We need some practise too, you know."

Leah laughed. "Be patient guys. You'll all get a turn, but I have to do it one at a time, or else I'll be overwhelmed." She turned back to her friend. "Now come on, Dan, there are other people waiting to have a go, so off with it."

The five kids were sitting in their sunlit apartment. Dan and Leah were sitting cross-legged on the sofa, facing each other, while Matt, Katie and James were sitting up the dinner table, with their respective Number cards spread out in front of them. They were anxious for Leah to start training them too.

The previous day, Leah had engaged in a fierce battle with a Number holder. In fact, the duel had been so intense that the enemy Number had ended up shattering Leah's metal wristband, the only thing that prevented her from being possessed by her Numbers. Amazingly, however, the young girl had managed to fight off all four of her Numbers, and had managed to avoid being possessed.

Since then, her superiors had given her a replacement band so she could still extract Numbers from other people, but at the moment it lay forgotten on the table beside her. She really had no use for it – she was now able to dispel an attacking Number with just a flicker of thought. She marvelled at how easy it had become with practise. And now she was training the others to do the same, by telling them to remove their bands and fight off their Numbers when they attacked. The others had agreed that it was for the best, and decided to let her train them.

Well, three of them did. James couldn't be bothered to go through all that effort, since he didn't hunt Numbers that often. Instead, he was content to lounge around on his laptop, learning everything he could about the metal bands. He'd already learnt a lot about how they work and how they fitted together – so much so that he felt confident that he could take one apart and put it back together perfectly.

Wearily, Dan dug his fingers under the edge of the metal band around his wrist, and prepared to pull it off his arm. "So when I remove this thing, all of my Numbers will attack me at once?"

"Yep," Leah nodded. "But your original Number will overpower them and try and take you over itself. You need to learn how to fight it off. You've mastered your doubts just like I did, so the Number will try and attack your mind using waves of negative emotions. You need to protect your subconscious using positive emotions. The way I did it was to think of a happy memory, and immerse myself in it." She grinned. "You need to become part of the Happy Revolution!"

The others just stared at her. James looked up from his computer. "The Happy Revolution...?" he said incredulously.

She nodded. "Yep! That's what I'm calling it. So there."

"Sounds simple in theory," Dan muttered. "Ok then, here we go..." With one swift movement, he pulled the metal band from his wrist. Immediately, he gasped as the presence of his five Numbers assailed him, attacking his mind with every negative emotion they could muster. There weren't enough negative emotions in Dan's own body to amplify, so the Numbers created their own and hurled them into his mind. Leah watched with interest as four glowing numbers etched themselves onto his hand – twenty, fifty-five, three, eighty-six – one after the other, all of them overlapping. Then, all four symbols shattered, and a new one replaced them – the blue number sixty-eight. She recognised it immediately. **Number 68: Glacial Dragon** was Dan's original Number, and it was trying to take him over, just as her Number 17 had done.

All of the Deltas watched carefully as Dan clutched his chest and cried out in pain, the number on his skin glowing brighter than ever. The metal band fell from his rigid fingers and landed on the carpeted floor with a soft thud. Leah allowed the process to go on a little longer, before finally deciding that Dan wasn't going to do it. She reached out and placed her left hand gently over the top of his right.

The blue number sixty-eight on the back of his hand went out like a light. In that same instant, the invasive presence in Dan's mind was washed away by a great, calming force, and he allowed his breathing to stabilize once again.

Leah smiled at him. "Close, but not quite," she told him.

"I really thought I knew how it worked," Dan lamented as Leah reached down onto the floor to retrieve his band. "But that power... it's overwhelming. I just got swallowed up by it."

Leah pressed the metal band into his palm. "Don't worry about it," she said. "No-one expects you to manage it first time. Now come on, let's give someone else a go." As Dan stood up, she turned to the table and called to the others. "Alright, who's next?"

Katie stood up. "I'll give it a try," she said. Leah nodded and motioned her over. She gathered up her five Number cards and strode over to her. The sofa shifted back slightly as she sat down.

"Alright, you know how this works," she said. "Except it'll be slightly different for you than it was for me and Dan."

"Different how?" Katie queried.

She was about to explain, but Matt cut in instead. "Because those two know each other. They both had exactly the same doubts about each other, and they both mastered them. Am I right?"

Leah nodded. "That's basically it," she said.

Katie sat in thought for a moment. "Well, all of my feelings regarding Keane and Esta have been resolved, so I'm not really sure what my Number will do..."

"If you ask me," Leah said, "I reckon that, since you've already mastered your own emotions, the Number won't have anything to amplify. So it'll do to you what it did to me; try to fill you up with misery and pain that it created. You have to combat it with your own happiness and joy. The Happy Revolution, Katie! Can you do that?"

"I can try..." she said, and yanked her band off without a second thought. She cried out in anguish as the siege of her mind began. Ninety-four, thirty-three, twenty-two, fourteen - each one blazing trails across her hand like a bolt of lightning, before being replaced by the main one, the number ninety-one. Her original Number. She felt the immense waves of pain and hatred and sadness come crashing down on her soul like a tidal wave, and like Dan before her, she clutched her heart as she desperately tried to fend off the Number.

After about half a minute, the glowing red symbol on the back of her hand flickered. It was very slight, but Leah saw it, and knew that Katie must have found a way to fight back.

But then she messed up. Leah noticed a brief look of triumph pass over Katie's face, followed almost immediately by a look of horror as the Number took advantage of her lapse in concentration, and integrated itself further into her mind. She frantically tried to retrieve her happy memory, but amid the Number's dark presence it was too hard. She felt her mind fading into nothing, succumbing to the darkness...

Then a hand touched her arm softly, and the Number's presence was swept away. The glowing red ninety-one on her had vanished in an instant, and a sense of calm passed over her.

"Really good first try," Leah said enthusiastically. "You made some real progress."

"That's... it's unbelievable..." Katie panted. "I knew the theory, and I knew which memory I wanted to use. But I had no idea that you had to concentrate on it that much."

"Surprising, isn't it?" Leah grinned, as Matt stood up. Katie's band had been knocked a bit further than Dan's, so he went to pick it up while Leah maintained skin contact, keeping the Numbers at bay. "Even the slightest distraction or crack in your armour, and the Number will break through," she explained.

"Yeah..." Katie nodded. She was exhausted, so Leah sent her back to sit down and beckoned Matt over. "Alright, captain. You're up."

Matt handed the band back to Katie, then swapped places with her on the sofa and sat facing Leah. "I'm ready," he said, serious as usual.

"Ok, for the most part, the same thing applies to you as it did with Katie," she explained. "I don't really know about what your Number was amplifying when it possessed you, so only you can determine whether you were able to master yourself to a high enough degree. Regardless, you need to work out how your Number plans to attack you, and you need to do it quickly once you remove the band. Understood?" Matt nodded. "Ok, then give it a try. And remember: Happy Revolution."

With apprehension, Matt curled his fingers around the cold metal... and hesitated. He couldn't believe he was really doing this. The last time he had combatted his Number, he had been possessed, and had injured a great number of innocent people. What if it happened again? What if he was unable to control it? What if he-

He shook his head vigorously. No! He mustn't think those thoughts. He mustn't put doubts into his own mind – doubts that his Number could use against him. He had to be absolutely sure of himself. Besides, Leah was sitting a few feet away from him. She wouldn't let anything happen to him. It made him happy to know that she was watching him, caring for his safety...

In one deft motion, he slipped the band off his wrist.

He felt the Numbers' presence attack his mind almost immediately. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, ignoring the glowing symbol that flashed onto the back of his hand, and prepared himself to fend off any doubts and any fear that came his way. He knew there were plenty of both inside him, and he was more than ready to counter them.

But the reality shocked him. Instead of assailing his mind with misery and despair, the Number picked a very different emotion. A positive emotion. One that Matt hadn't even realised was there.

The Number amplified it and used it to lash out at Matt's mind. Matt had been expecting to deal with negative emotions, not this. He wasn't prepared for this. He opened his eyes and shouted as that powerful emotion intensified even more. "Leah! Help me!" he cried. "Stop the Number! I can't fight it! Stop it!"

Leah was shocked to see Matt like this, and immediately thrust her hand forward and clamped onto the side of his neck.

And just like that, it was over. Matt felt the Numbers presence, along with the amplified emotion, disappear from his mind. No... not quite disappeared. The Number's power had drawn attention to that emotion, and now he could feel it, aching inside him.

He looked at the other three Deltas, who were all staring at him, wondering what had happened. Then he turned back to Leah, who was looking at him with concern, and the emotion inside him intensified even more as he made eye contact.

He knew which emotion it was. In his heart, he'd known it for months. He just hadn't wanted to admit it. But the Number had forced it to the surface, thrust aside all of his other emotions and forced him to confront this one head on. There was no hiding from it anymore.

He took in everything about Leah's form: her bright hazel eyes, her long brown-blonde hair, the concerned look on her face, and the gentle feel of her hand against his neck. He felt his heart jump, ever so slightly. And that confirmed it.

It was infatuation.

He was in love with Leah.

* * *

**Fun Fact #1: And there you have it. That's what all of those Ultra-Subtle Foreshadowing Hints were leading up to. I know that you were probably expecting something better than this, but this will have to do. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Fun Fact #2: Remember, the Deltas may be incredibly powerful Number hunters that are out to save the world from vaguely evil forces, but they're still teenagers. They still have to go through all the crazy stuff that comes from growing up, including "high school crushes".**

**Fun Fact #3: I'll bet that most of you were thinking of something _completely_ different from Number training for the first eight lines!**


	2. Chapter 2

As Matt continued to look at her, he quickly racked his brain, trying to discern exactly what it was that he loved about her so much. It didn't take him long – the Number's assault had shaken loose all of his feelings for her, and thrust them to the forefront of his mind where he was able to examine them more easily.

To put it simply, he loved how much she cared, and he loved how much she didn't care.

When it came to helping people - whether by Number hunting, by her old job as a lifeguard, or even just talking to people to try and make them feel a little better – no-one cared more than her. She was always determined to make the world a better place, even if only a little, and even if it was only by sitting and talking with someone, laughing with them, making them a little happier. That was her joy, and it gave him so much joy to watch…

On the other hand, when it came to her own appearance, no-one cared less than her. She was always seen wearing jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt with green sleeves. These sleeves extended over her wrists, so the shirt always looked just a little too big for her. And she simply didn't care. Some girls would have about six mental breakdowns about their appearance before they'd even left the house, but that simply wasn't the case with her. She was always carefree, and always cheerful regardless of the way she looked. And that made her happiness seem all the more genuine.

She wasn't the sexiest girl in the world, but at that moment, Matt didn't think he'd ever been more attracted to anyone.

Leah saw Matt staring at her, his eyes wide, his chest heaving with shock after the Number's attack. "Matt, what's the matter? What did the Number do to you?"

Matt just sat there, breathing heavily, not trusting himself with words just yet. On the one hand, saying the wrong thing here would result in severe embarrassment, severe injury, or possibly the loss of a friendship he'd worked so hard to gain. On the other hand, the shock of the experience coupled with his intense infatuation was making him feel reckless and uninhibited.

And so, despite everyone watching, and despite Leah's hand being mere inches from his throat, he made his move.

"Um... yeah, I'm fine" he stammered. "L-Leah... I- well, I need to tell you something..."

"Sure, what is it?" she said, the concern never leaving her voice. She was worried about him; he was acting really odd.

"I... well..." he said, trying to find the right words. It took him a while to realise that there were no 'right words', so he just blurted it out. "Thing is... I... I like you."

He felt Leah's hand tense against his neck, and saw her eyes widen. The entire apartment had gone completely silent, with the two of them as the centre of attention.

"What did you just say?" Leah asked. Her eyes betrayed her shock, but her voice gave nothing away.

Fearing that his nerve could leave him at any moment, he ploughed on. "I guess I've known it for a long time now, but it was only when the Number amplified my emotions that I noticed it. You see, instead of using a negative emotion against me, it used love – a positive emotion. I wasn't ready to fight it."

"Ah... so that's why you panicked and asked for help," James said. Leah said nothing.

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I've been kind of unconsciously ignoring it up to this point, but after this I can't ignore it anymore." He looked her dead in the eyes. "I like everything about you. I love how much you care for people. I love how much other people mean to you. I love the way you can wear whatever you want and still look amazing. And... well... I'd be overjoyed to be able to call you my girlfriend..." he trailed off, suddenly conscious of the fact that Leah had said nothing so far.

In fact, she was still saying nothing. Instead, she just stared at him, her hand trembling very slightly against his neck. The whole apartment was dead silent.

Then, she turned to look at Dan, and he understood her immediately. He stood up and walked over to retrieve Matt's metal band. He gave it to Matt wordlessly, examining him as though in a new light. Matt took it with apprehension and slipped it back onto his wrist. Only once it was on did Leah remove her hand from his neck.

Finally, she spoke. "I... I'm sorry Matt, I need to think for a while..." She stood up, scooped her own metal band off the table, and strode briskly into her room. Dan gave Matt one last glance, then followed her in, shutting the door behind him.

And now, Matt was alone with Katie, James, and his own thoughts. He suddenly gained a sharp introspective of what he'd just done, and buried his face in his hands with a groan. "I can't believe it... I can't believe I just did that..."

"Neither can I, mate!" James grinned, with about as much tact as a hippopotamus. "I didn't see that one coming at all. What on earth got into you?"

Katie was a bit more sympathetic. She gave her boyfriend a withering look, then stood up and went to sit beside Matt on the sofa. "Did you really mean that?" she asked softly.

Matt nodded, not looking at her. "Every word. But I still can't believe I had the courage to say it at all."

"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" she said encouragingly. "Now you've said it. Now you've got your feelings out in the open. It's up to her now."

"You don't understand..." Matt moaned, his voice muffled through his hands. "I've just put myself right out there. What if she rejects me? What if she laughs at me? What if I've just destroyed our friendship? I couldn't live with myself knowing that I'd just done that."

Katie put her arm around him and hugged him. She knew exactly what he was going through – she and James had gone through a similar thing in the past. Although she would never say it out loud, it was actually quite interesting to have this new perspective on these old events.

Still in tactful hippo mode, James stood in front of Matt with his arms folded, and started trying to comfort him. "Hey man, don't be so upset. Think of the positives! If this works out, you'll be the proud owner of a seriously hot girlfriend."

Matt didn't say anything, but Katie gave her boyfriend the type of glare that could melt a boulder. "Right... I'll stop you there, couple of things," she said, her voice dripping with venom. "Firstly, that's not making Matt feel any better at all. Secondly, did I hear you call a girl other than your own girlfriend hot? And thirdly, I think it's just a little bit objectifying to be using the word 'owner' when describing a relationship, don't you agree?"

His mouth just opened and closed a few times, gaping stupidly as he desperately searched for a way to make up for his crimes.

"So what have you got to say for yourself?" she asked acidly.

"Um... well..." he stuttered. "Er... I think I'd better get back to work."

"I agree," she said, and glared at him all the way across the apartment until he'd sat down and fixed his eyes firmly on his computer screen. Finally, she turned back to Matt and gave him a friendly punch on the arm. "See that? You'll have to put up with that soon enough," she joked.

And despite everything, Matt chuckled slightly.

*MEANWHILE*

Leah had assumed a similar pose to Matt, sitting on her bed with her knees tucked up under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs. She'd slipped on her Number-repelling band again, because there was already enough on her mind without having to deal with the Numbers too. Her face was bright red, and she was muttering – partly to Dan, who was sitting next to her, but partly to herself.

"I can't believe it..." she groaned. "I can't believe he just did that..."

Dan really wanted to say something to help her, but there wasn't much he could do until she came to terms with what Matt had just said. So instead, he sat there, offering silent companionship.

In the end, she did calm down a little, and turned to look at her friend with helpless eyes. "Dan, what am I supposed to do? This has never happened to me before."

Dan tilted his head, confused. "What do you mean? You've had guys hit on you before."

She shook her head. "Yeah, but they've never been friends or allies. They've never been people I've looked at as my teammates. Plus, they've only ever hit on me – never confessed that they loved me like that. Matt's different from all of them." She put a hand to her forehead. "Honestly... why do guys have to be so confusing? And so unpredictable, too?"

"Oh yeah, because girls aren't guilty of that at all!" Dan said sarcastically, trying to prompt a laugh from her. When none came, he went on. "Anyway, in all seriousness, all I can do is offer advice from a logical standpoint. Do you think you'd find that helpful?"

She nodded, and despite everything, a tiny smile crept onto her face. "Yeah... I think a bit of logic would do me good right now."

He nodded. "Alright. Well, from everything I've seen, Matt's a decent guy who's very adamant about protecting his friends. He's shy, but he's strong. He'd make an excellent boyfriend to any girl he chose to direct his affection to."

Leah nodded the whole time. All of this was true, but she knew he wasn't quite finished yet.

"But you know as well as I do, that doesn't necessarily matter, does it?" he said. "Just because someone would make a good boyfriend or girlfriend, doesn't mean that you'll get on with them, and it certainly doesn't mean that they're automatically right for you." He smiled at her. "You already knew all of that. You just needed someone on the outside to remind you of it, didn't you?"

"I guess," she agreed. A brief pause followed, as both teens sat there in silence, mulling things over. It was Leah who broke the silence. "I have to make a decision, don't I?"

"Yes."

"And I need to make it quickly, don't I?"

"Yes and no," he replied. "Yes, because it's not fair on Matt to keep him waiting too long. And no, because it's not fair on you to be forced to rush such an important decision. You need to take as much time as you feel you need to reach a decision." He held up his hands. "Just so you know, I'm staying neutral in this. I've given you the facts only. I'm not going to give you my opinion, and I'm certainly not going to try and influence your decision. This decision is yours to make."

She was silent for a moment longer, staring at her hands clasped in her lap. "I think I've already made my decision."

He nodded. "I understand."

"Will you stay with me the whole time?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied. "I won't say anything, but I'll be there to make sure everything's ok."

She smiled and stood up. "Just like old times, isn't it? Except with situations reversed now."

He laughed and got to his feet as well. "Yeah, I guess it is." He allowed the smile to fade from his face, and looked at her seriously. "You sure you're ready for this?"

She met his gaze firmly, and grinned cheekily. "Nope!" And with that, she turned around strode towards the door

* * *

**Fun Fact #4: I know that we're absolutely terrible at writing things like this, but just bear with us a little longer. One more chapter and this sub-plot will be over, then we can get back to the plot that people actually want to see. Hang tight.**

**Fun Fact #5: According to a few of the rumoured banlists floating around, Tsukuyomi might be coming off the forbidden list for the next format. If that actually happens, we'll give you three guesses as to whose Deck will receive a major upgrade.**

**Fun Fact #6: So, who wants to hear more ranting about the new spelling and grammar checker? Everybody? Ok. It's now telling us that "a smile crept onto her face" is wrong, and we should be writing it as "a smile crept her face". Come on, FanFictionDotNet, where on earth is the logic on that one?  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Despite the horribly embarrassing and precarious situation he now found himself in, Matt was starting to liven up a little, as Katie did her utmost to try and draw him out of his ball of silence, if only for a little while. He was still wishing that the ground would open up and swallow him whole, but not quite as much.

"So, if Leah hadn't been there to stop the Number's influence, what do you think would've happened?" Katie asked, purely out of curiosity.

Matt shrugged. "I dunno. If I had to guess, I'd say I would have lost to the Number and been possessed."

"Was it really that strong?" she asked.

"Definitely," he nodded. "I wasn't ready to deal with something like that. I honestly thought my feelings towards Leah were of good friends... I haven't really been in love before, so I don't know what it feels like. But the Number's power brought out my own feelings in full force. I can't really hide from them anymore."

"Well then, there really is no denying that you did the right thing, is there?" Katie grinned.

"I guess," he murmured. But at that moment, there musings were interrupted by James, who had stopped typing on his laptop and was just staring at the screen.

"Hey guys," he called. "I've found something pretty interesting. I reckon you'll want to take a look at this..."

"Not now, James," Katie scolded. "This isn't the time - give it an hour or two."

"No, seriously," he insisted. "This is something you're going to want to see-" He would've said more, but was interrupted by the sound of a door handle turning. The three of them looked around to see Leah coming out of her room, with Dan right behind her. As one, Matt and Katie stood up and turned to face them. James considered getting up for the briefest of moments, then shrugged, deciding instead that he couldn't really help anyone. Besides, he could see the action just fine from where he was.

Leah walked right up to Matt and stopped about a foot away from him. Her face gave nothing away to the casual observer, but Dan had spent enough time around her to read the signs. Her jaw was set, her fingers were interlocked behind her back – she was nervous. As he'd promised, he stayed close to her.

Finally, Leah spoke. "Everything you said to me... all of it was the truth?"

Matt nodded. "I meant every-"

"Hey guys!" The four of them turned around to see James, still trying to grab their attention. "You should all come and look at this."

"James!" Katie hissed, a thunderous look in her eyes. "We're kind of busy at the moment."

"Yeah, I know, but it's important," James insisted.

"Just..." she tried to resist the urge to shout at him. "Just... wait." Without another word, she turned back, and nudged Matt to continue.

He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes, I meant every word I said. You're the most caring, wonderful, amazing person I've ever met. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to call myself your boyfriend."

Leah blushed. She'd never had someone speaking to her like this. She started to reply, but was interrupted by James... again.

"Guys, I'm serious," he called, gesturing towards his laptop. "This is definitely something you should come and take a look at."

Leah closed her eyes in exasperation. Dan rounded on James. "Come on, James, can't this wait for just a few minutes?"

He shook his head. "No, this is really important. It's something you all need to look at now, and quickl-"

*SMACK*

Matt, Leah, and Dan all recoiled as Katie slapped her boyfriend across the face, hard. He cried out in pain and clutched his stinging face. "What on earth was that for?" he gasped, staring up at her.

The look on her face was cataclysmic. She looked set to explode. "James... whatever you need to show us can wait for a few minutes. But this here..." she gestured to Matt and Leah, "THIS is important! Don't you understand how important it is?"

"Of course I do!" he shouted. "I remember us! I remember our first date – no-one understands better than me how important this moment is!" He looked at his girlfriend earnestly. "That's why you know I wouldn't be interrupting it if this wasn't important. Please believe me; the thing I've found... it's more important than this."

Katie's anger was slightly tempered by James' reasoning, but she was still cross. "Why is this so important James? Why can't this wait?"

"Five minutes," he said. She blinked in surprise. "That's all. Just trust me for five minutes. Then I promise that you... all of you..." he briefly looked around at the others, "can pummel me to your heart's content, ok?"

She turned around and looked helplessly at the others. Matt and Leah looked into each other's eyes briefly – she saw the impatience and intense longing in his eyes, and was about to fob James off, but then Matt turned back and said, "Alright James, five minutes."

"Wait... hang on," Dan butted in. "Why do you have to? Couldn't you just ask her to say 'yes' or 'no'? Then that would be the end of it in just a few seconds."

"No!" Matt said hurriedly. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do this properly. Besides, I can hang on for five minutes." Leah stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded.

Katie shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe this... fine then. Five minutes." All four of them turned and walked over to James, who had watched this exchange with great impatience, and gathered behind him. Leah made a point to stand as far away from Matt as possible – despite everything, she still wasn't really ready. "Alright James, this'd better be good."

"Oh trust me, it is," he grinned, and began to explain things while he was typing. "You see, for the past ten minutes or so while you ladies were flirting with each other, I've been doing a bit of... shall we say... investigation."

Matt took one look at the lines of coding running across the screen and gasped. "By investigation you mean hacking, don't you?"

"Well... a little... or a lot," James grinned guiltily.

"Hacking into Professor Usur's computer?"

"Yeah."

"I gave you that idea months ago," Matt said indignantly. "I thought you told me it was too dangerous. What made you suddenly decide it was a good idea?"

James shrugged. "A vast improvement in my hacking skills… and boredom." Matt shook his head in disbelief as James continued typing. "Anyway, during the course of this hackinvestigation, I found a flaw in the Professor's system. Namely, in his communications system." He tapped another key triumphantly, and a list of text scrolled across his screen. A closer look revealed them to be a list of calls: a list of calls currently being made inside the building, and from which line.

**Caller | Receiver**  
Line 02 | 07700 900461 [External]  
Line 06 | 555 3792 [External]  
Line 07 | 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3 [External]  
…

"So… you've found a list of calls…" Dan said, clearly unimpressed. "I guess I'll ask the obvious question: why is this so important?"

"Because of this." James pointed to a particular call about two-thirds down the list. The others leaned closer to the screen to read it.

Line 98 | Client [External]

"And what's so special about that call?" Katie said.

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" James was absolutely in his element, and within seconds had brought up a line directory for the building. "You see there... Line 98 is Professor Usur's personal line. He's currently the one making that call."

"And?" Katie was already starting to feel that this was a waste of time. "Our Professor makes phone calls - big deal. Do you know who else makes phone calls? Everybody!"

"Ah, but you haven't let me finish," James smirked, before tapping a few more keys to bring up a call log for the past few months. "Look at this." He expertly ticked a few boxes to remove most of the entries from the list, leaving only the calls made to or by Line 98. "See? Professor Usur has been calling, or being called by, that same number almost every day for the past few months." He looked around at everyone, and was disappointed by how unimpressed they look. "Don't you see? We've been having suspicions about Usur's plans for ages. If we intercept this call – this call being made to his major client – then we may be able to learn more about his plans!"

The full implications of this idea struck them. They looked at each other, then at their leader, Matt. "Should we do it?" Dan asked.

Matt only hesitated for a short moment, then nodded. "I think we should... as long as the risks involved are fairly small."

Leah turned to James. "And how do we know they are? How do we know that he won't notice you hacking into this call?"

James pretended to consider this, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, let me think..." he said sarcastically. "Maybe because I've already hacked into the call twice while waiting for you two to finish your ridiculous dance of awkwardness?" Leah felt her cheeks flush, and had to fight the urge to throw something at his smug tactful-hippo face.

"Alright then, James," Matt said nervously, desperately hoping that no-one could see how red his own face was. "Go for it."

James nodded and pressed enter. There was a quick burst of static, then a voice that they all recognised came out of the speakers. It was Professor Usur.

_"_… _to do before tomorrow. And as you know, tomorrow is our best chance at getting the portal working."_

Then another voice, one that none of them recognised, responded, _"Yes, yes, I understand that… but is this really necessary? Sending beings from your world into my world… what is the purpose?"_

_"Are you questioning me?" _Professor Usur replied sharply.

_"Not at all…" _said the voice at the other end, but there was a note of discord in his voice. It was clear that he didn't like being spoken to in this manner, but didn't dare voice such concerns.

Either Usur didn't notice it, or he didn't care. _"Well, if you must know, this is a test. If my people can pass through the portal, then it stands to reason that other things can as well… you catch my meaning?"_

This time, the voice at the other end sounded delighted. _"Ah yes, of course, I understand completely!"_

_"Well then, I think that will be all," _Professor Usur said, sounding satisfied. _"Now loggin-"_

_"Wait, just one more question," _the unidentified man interrupted. _"This event tomorrow… the Day of the Three Suns… what does that mean? What am I to expect?"_

_"The same thing as us," _Usur replied. _"Three suns will appear in the skies, time will temporarily stop around the Number holders, and the barrier between worlds will be at its weakest. We shall use that opportunity to activate the portal, and attempt to breach a hole between worlds. Now, please excuse me. I have much work to attend to before tomorrow. I shall tell my team to get some sleep – they shall have a busy day tomorrow."_

_"Very well," _the strange man replied. _"I hope you will inform me how things go tomorrow. The information you obtain could provide most… useful to my goal. Until then, goodbye sir."_

_"Goodbye… Doctor Faker," _Usur replied.

And with that, the transmission cut out.

* * *

**Fun Fact #7: I believe this is what people refer to as 'the plot thickens'.**

**Fun Fact #8: This is our first documented case of a canon ZEXAL character appearing in our fanfic. Although it certainly won't be the last...**

**Fun Fact #9: The three phone numbers on the list above are all references to popular TV shows. The first number is The Doctor's phone number (you know, Doctor Who). The second number is a helpline that was mentioned in a few episodes of The A-Team. The third number is the new emergency services number that replaced 999 in The IT Crowd (come on, sing along).**

**Fun Fact #10: No, we're not abandoning Matt and Leah's subplot. We're just choosing to play with our food for a while.**

**Fun Fact #11: More things to rant about with the grammar checker. Apparently, 'suns' is not a word. So according to FanFictionDotNet there can never be more that one sun. Seriously? Ok, putting aside for a moment the fact that anyone with a basic understanding of the universe could tell you there is a lot more than one sun, the title of our next story also begs to differ.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

The five of them stared at the small 'disconnected' icon on James' laptop, half willing the conversation to continue, for Usur and the mysterious man to tell them more.

It was Matt who broke the silence. "Doctor Faker..." he muttered. "Does anyone recognise that name at all?" Four sets of heads shook. "Shame... regardless, we should really talk about what we just heard. The Day of Three Suns? The portal? Time stopping... what on earth were they talking about?"

James shrugged. "Not a clue. But maybe they weren't being literal. Maybe they were talking in code about something they plan to do tomorrow."

"Why would they need to talk in code though?" Leah asked. "This is supposed to be the Professor's personal line. What're the odds that someone would be able to hack into it?"

"Well, I managed it easy enough," James said. "The codes were encrypted and the frequency was scrambled, but other than that it had pretty shoddy protection. Any skilled hacker could've got in."

"You what?" Katie said. "But why? Why would he leave his connection so completely unprotected when talking about his plans?"

"Ah, that's the clever bit," James grinned. "The protection around the building's internal server is incredibly strong. Not even the most skilled hacker could break into it from the outside."

Matt scratched his head. "So that means that the only realistic way of hacking into his call-"

"-is if you're already a part of the network!" James finished. "Exactly. So the only people who would have the opportunity to hack into the Professor's calls are the people that work for him, like us. And if you think about it, he wouldn't really be expecting his own staff to hack him."

"Clever," Matt muttered. "But that still doesn't explain what's happening tomorrow. Are there any major events happening tomorrow?"

"None that we know of," James replied. "But that doesn't matter. They must've been talking in code, planning something like a bank robbery or a picnic. There's no other logical explanation. There just isn't."

Leah nudged Dan, who was staring into space. "You're being awfully quiet. Is something wrong?"

"I'm thinking..." Dan replied. The others looked at him curiously. Then, he shook his head slightly as though to clear it, and spoke to James. "Hey James, were you recording that call by any chance?"

"I was indeed," James said proudly. "Why's that?"

"Play it again, starting from the one minute mark," Dan said thoughtfully. "There's something I want to check."

James looked at him for a moment, then shrugged and opened the recorded call as a sound file, then skipped ahead to the 1:00 mark. And once again, Professor Usur's voice droned out of James' laptop.

"… _thing as us. __Three suns will appear in the skies, time will temporarily stop around the Number holders, and the barrier between worlds will be at its weakest. We shall use that opportunity to activate the portal, and attempt to breach a hole between worlds. Now, please excuse me. I have much work to attend to before tomorrow. I shall tell my team to get some sleep – they shall have a busy day tomorrow."_

Dan reached over James' shoulder and stopped the file from playing. He then skipped straight back to the one minute mark and played it again. Then again.

"Dan, what are you listening for?" Katie asked after the third time.

"Everything..." he replied cryptically. Then he turned to face the others. "James, you said they might be talking in code, but I don't think that's the case. Think about it. When you talk in code, it's because you have to. You substitute code words for the important words in the conversations, and you keep things as vague as possible to avoid being found out. No part of the Professor's conversation was vague, mumbled, or cryptic. He spoke clearly and in perfect detail. Plus, there would be no need to use a code if there's a zero per cent chance that external forces could be listening to the call. That leads me to believe that he isn't using a code - that he's actually being quite literal."

"You... just... what?" James spluttered. "He's talking about things like three suns and portals and freezing time. How can that possibly be literal? It doesn't make sense."

"The world doesn't make sense anymore, James," Dan replied. "Think about the Numbers - magical creatures that live inside pieces of cardboard, and possess you the moment you touch them, and can inflict real injuries to people. Creatures that literally appeared out of thin air and changed their form to match our souls. Is any of what Usur's saying a big leap from that?"

"I... well..." James said, unable to think of a response.

Matt sighed. "Alright Dan, I see your point. So if you think that Usur is being literal with what he said, then what's going to happen tomorrow? What are _we_ to expect?"

"Trouble," Leah muttered. The others all looked at her. "The Professor said he was going to tell his team to get some rest because they have a busy day tomorrow."

"Yeah, so?" James said.

Leah turned to look at him, and at that moment, all of them could see the worry in her eyes. "James... everyone... look at your D-Gazers."

There was a brief lull in the conversation as the kids all fished their D-Gazers out of their pockets. All four of them had messages. The same message, sent to all five D-Gazers.

"_Hello there kids. I'm just sending you this to let you know that I have a job for you tomorrow. Number activity has been quite low as of late, so I've prepared a task for you tomorrow morning. So please get some rest. I'll expect you up bright and early in the morning._

_Regards,_

_Professor Usur"_

The five kids stared at each other as the realisation hit them. "It's us..." Matt muttered. "We're the team he's going to employ tomorrow."

"It looks like it, yeah," Katie said. "The question now is: what has he got planned for us tomorrow?" She turned to Leah and Dan. "You two think he's being literal. So do you think he really means to open a portal to another world?"

"I think he's going to try," Dan replied. "It sounds like tomorrow is some sort of special day, where the boundaries of our world and some other world get thinner than usual. And that's when he's going to do it. That's when he's going to try and open up a portal to another world. The world where Doctor Faker lives."

"Whoa whoa, hang on a sec," James said. "How do you know that Doctor Faker comes from another world?"

"We don't," Leah replied. "But we can infer it. Play the recording again from the twenty-nine second mark."

James was starting to get sick of hearing the recording by now, but he obliged and started the file from the 0:29 point.

"-_but is this really necessary? Sending beings from your world into my world… what is the purpose?"_

James stopped the file there – he'd heard what he needed to hear. Nevertheless, he was still clearly struggling to come to grips with everything. "Ok... ok... so to sum everything up, Professor Usur is in contact with some guy from another world, and tomorrow he's going to try and open up a portal to that world. Correct?"

"Crazy, I know," Leah grinned nervously.

"But what about the other stuff?" James insisted. "Time stopping... three suns... it can't all be literal, can it?"

Dan grinned. "Well, if you want to get technical, there is a lot more than one sun. There's like... billions of suns. We call them stars..."

"Cheeky so-and-so," James laughed. "But seriously, I don't understand any of this. It just isn't logical. It's insane! What's going to happen to us tomorrow?"

"Well," Matt said, his voice cutting through everyone else's. "I know one way to find out. You want to know what it is?" James nodded. "Are you sure?" James nodded again, more insistently. "Really really sure?" All four kids were intrigued now, and they all moved in closer to hear what Matt was about to say. "Really really really really really really rea-"

"Damnit Matt, just tell us!" Katie snapped.

Matt laughed. "Alright then, I will..." he took a deep breath, then pointed, straight out of the window. Eight eyes followed his pointing finger, which was pointing out the sky visible out the window. The sun had set, and darkness was descending swiftly. "We wait. We go to bed, we go to sleep, and we wait. Tomorrow we'll learn everything, so why force anything? All we have to do is wait."

All four of them sighed. "Matt, honestly..." Katie said in exasperation, before breaking out into a yawn. "Actually now I think about it…"

"Aw, is the little baby all sleepy?" James grinned wickedly.

Katie pointed a finger at him. "Hey, don't start that again; I'm much too tired to hit you right now."

"Didn't stop you earlier," James pointed out.

Katie shrugged. "Yeah, but to be fair, you were being an irritating little so-and-so earlier. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed."

Dan, Leah, and Matt all bid her goodnight, but James intercepted her. "Hang on, you're going to bed? Just like that? What about everything we just heard? How are we supposed to sleep knowing all this is going to happen tomorrow?"

"How are we supposed to be ready for tomorrow if we don't sleep?" she countered. "There's nothing more we can learn from that file, so we should just get some sleep."

"She's right James," Leah insisted. "We all need our rest. We don't know what will happen tomorrow, but we should still do everything we can to be ready. Now go to bed."

James shook his head in disbelief. "You guys are unbelievable. Fine, fine, I'll go get some shut-eye." He immediately stood up and made his way to the bathroom, determined, as always, to get the shower first.

"Alright," Katie grinned. "Goodnight everyone."

A brief round of goodnights followed, then everyone retired to their own rooms, to sleep off their worries and recover their strength for the coming day.

Well, most of them did...

*SOME TIME LATER*

Matt opened his door as silently as he could. It was eleven at night, so he was cautious about waking everyone up. He tiptoed out of his room and into the living room area. Immediately, he saw what he was looking for.

Leah had been dozing on the sofa for about half an hour, but now she sat upright and beckoned him over. Matt walked over to her, treading as lightly as he could, and stood awkwardly in front of her. She grinned and shuffled over to make room on the sofa, and he sat down next to her.

"So..." he whispered.

"Well..." she whispered back. Then there was another awkward silence. They both sat there, looking at each other, but barely seeing each other in the dark. Finally she spoke again. "...we really are rubbish at this, aren't we."

"Look, Leah," Matt said quietly. "I really like you, and I really want to be with you, but I've said all I can. The decision is yours alone."

"Matt…" she started, then faltered. This was so much harder than she thought. "I'm... well, I'm not really sure how to say this..."

"Just say it," he insisted.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry..."

Matt felt his heart sink.

"Please don't get upset," she pleaded. "I'm sorry, I really am... but it's just... I can't-"

"It's ok..." Matt sighed heavily, trying hard to keep the sadness out of his voice. "Just... if you can, just tell me why."

She nodded. She owed him that much. "I'll tell you, but I think you already know the answer." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "From the day we met, all the way up to today, I've come to know you... better than I've known most people. Same with James and Katie. Together, the five of us have been through incredible things, and we've forged amazing bonds because of that. But the bonds I've gained... well, they aren't the same as yours."

"They're bonds of friendship, not love, right?" Matt guessed.

"Exactly," she nodded. "We're companions, we're friends, and we're teammates. But I don't think I see you as more than that. I don't think I can. And think about all the risks that come with a relationship. The rows, the bickering, the heartbreaks, the jealousy... I'm sorry, but it's just not something I'm willing to risk, especially with someone I care about so much." She placed her hand gently on top of his. "Do you understand?"

Matt was really struggling. Rejection wasn't something he was used to, especially since he'd never liked anyone this much up to now. And this particular rejection hit particularly close to home, because it was clear that Leah was doing her best to be kind, and to stop him from feeling worse... but that kindness and caring was the very reason he'd fallen for her to begin with, which just made it hurt all the more.

Finally, he nodded. "Yeah... it's fine, I'm ok..." He saw her about to say something, but cut her off. "I'm ok, really- or at least, I will be. This was a really big deal for me. I just... need a bit of time to come to terms with it."

Leah paused for a moment, then nodded. "Of course, I understand. And Matt... I'm really sorry... again..."

Her hand was still resting on top of Matt's, and now he gently rotated his hand beneath hers, so they were now resting palms together. "It's ok," he assured her. "Give me a little while; I'll be absolutely fine, you'll see."

She smiled and squeezed his hand gently. "I hope so," she said.

They stayed up for a few hours longer, talking about everything and nothing, waiting for tiredness to overcome them, so they could finally go to bed and sleep off the day's events. They chatted about lots, but were both careful to avoid talking about what would happen tomorrow, because they both knew that discussions about tomorrow's events would eventually lead to speculation. And speculation was the absolute last thing they needed to be doing.

Besides, tomorrow would come along, in its own time...

* * *

**Fun Fact #12: First story we've ever written without a duel in it. Consequently the shortest story we've written so far... and most likely the worst... by far. Sorry for subjecting you all to this. Don't worry, plot will resume in the next story.**

**Fun Fact #13: Do you remember what we said a while ago about attempting to base all the social events in this story off of real-life events that occurred to us? Well this story is no exception. Matt-in-real-life actually asked out Leah-in-real-life a few months ago. For those of you who are curious, the result was much the same as in this story. Don't worry, they're friends again.**

**Fun Fact #14: Leah and Matt's real-life counterparts were initially far too embarrassed to help write this story, so it was left to the rest of us instead. Unfortunately, we struggled with the ending scene for this chapter so much, that they finally had to step in and help. I'd say the end result is passable, at least.**


End file.
